William Bibbiani Profile picture
Oct 17, 2022 9 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Did you know that #AChristmasStoryChristmas isn't the second film in the Parker Family movie franchise?

And no, it isn't the third.

It's the EIGHTH.

And that movie we all love... A CHRISTMAS STORY?

That's the THIRD. 🧵
The first film in the Parker Family series was a Made-for-TV film called THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN HEARTH, in 1976. It's about Ralphie, a teenager, and the drama surrounding his junior prom. The movie also includes the anecdote from Jean Shepard's memoir about the sexy lamp! A still from PHANTOM OF THE...
The second Parker Family made-for-tv movie was THE GREAT AMERICAN FOURTH OF JULY AND OTHER DISASTERS, which finds Ralphie in another dating crisis, and the family getting into misadventures at (what else?) Fourth of July.

Ralphie was played by future Oscar nominee Matt Dillon! Matt Dillon plays Ralphie i...
Then there was A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983), the feature film directed by Bob Clark which became a cult classic and then, finally, a mainstream classic.

Oh hey, did you know there was also a PHANTOM OF THE OPEN HEARTH tv pilot produced in 1978? It didn't get picked up.
The next Parker Family film was THE STAR-CROSSED ROMANCE OF JOSEPHINE COSNOWSKI (1985), and centers around Thanksgiving, the old man buying a new car, a school pageant, and Ralphie's first real girlfriend. The turkey costume from THE...
This was followed by OLLIE HOPNOODLE'S HAVEN OF BLISS (1988), starring Jerry O'Connell (!) as Ralphie, who gets his first job the summer of a big, eventful family road trip vacation. Also their dog goes missing, with unexpected results. Jerry O'Connell stars in OL...
Bob Clark actually returned for the next sequel, MY SUMMER STORY (1994), which starred Kieran Culkin as Ralphie, and Charles Grodin and Mary Steenburgen as his parents.

This one was theatrically released.

It made a little under $71,000. The cast of MY SUMMER STORY.
It took 18 years for the seventh film, Brian Levant's straight-to-video A CHRISTMAS STORY 2 (2012), to get made.

It's the only film in the series, so far, to be made without original author Jean Shepard's narration (he passed away in 1999). Daniel Stern plays the Old Man. Daniel Stern in A CHRISTMAS...
Which brings us, finally, back around to #AChristmasStoryChristmas, the eighth film in the Parker Family franchise! You can argue the TV movies "don't count" but then again, it's an HBOMax exclusive and HBOMax airs original TV shows, so #AChristmastStoryChristmas arguably is too. A Christmas Story Christmas

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More from @WilliamBibbiani

Oct 15, 2022
What is the most "Star Trek" episode of STAR TREK?

I don't mean the best, and I definitely don't mean an episode that "stands out" because it's unusual.

I mean the episode that you, personally, think is the most "typical" of TREK?
I think STAR TREK's greatest asset is the concept's ability to adapt to different themes, characters and even genres. Maybe there is no "typical" STAR TREK episode. But I am wondering what people would say is the "most" typical based on their own views of what defines it.
For example, a lot of people say CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER is one of the best STAR TREK episodes. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but it's very unlike most TREK episodes in many ways. I would, personally, hesitate to say it typifies TREK.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 23, 2022
My co-host @WitneySeibold wrote a strong editorial about the genre of comedic film reviews, the ones that exist more to make jokes than make meaningful criticism, and how they occupy the same cultural space as “serious” film reviews. He also acknowledges when they overlap.
I find it interesting that many of the negative comments so far reflect a certain loyalty or fandom for specific a series of comedic reviews (or more than one), which is interesting, because the noteworthy range in tonality aside, they’re all clearly in the same genre.
“This particular video series that uses the language of film criticism for mostly humorous effect shouldn’t be discussed alongside all the others because THIS ONE is GOOD” reminds me of folks who think labeling arthouse horror films like HEREDITARY as “horror” is rude.
Read 6 tweets
Jul 18, 2020
That moment when you realize that the T. Rex was never trying to eat the kids in #JurassicPark, because it had just eaten an entire goat and wasn't hungry...

...is the same moment you realize the T. Rex was just being playful.
The T. Rex in JURASSIC PARK wasn't trying to eat that car. She was just toying with it, and using the tires like a chew toy.
Of course, the T. Rex is still a large and dangerous animal, and so Grant needed to get it away from two helpless kids.

And how did he do that?

By using a laser pointer.
Read 6 tweets
Apr 26, 2019
I never, in my wildest dreams, thought I would have to explain the @nbcsnl "Cowbell" sketch to another human being, but okay, here we go....

First: Yes, there's a joke, and no, it's not watching other people pretend they get it. They actually get it. You're the one who's lost.
The joke of the SNL "Cowbell" sketch is that there is a song, which everyone knows, that has an unusual element right in plain sight (so to speak) that nobody really thought about before. This is what's called "observational comedy."
The first layer of the gag in the "Cowbell" sketch is: there's a massively popular, iconic song that's considered totally dark and meaningful, but one of the instruments Blue Öyster Cult used to make it was a cowbell. An inherently silly instrument. Nobody looks cool playing it.
Read 30 tweets

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